Worse than being chased by a moose...

 

“If God were not my friend, Satan would not be so much my enemy.”

                                                    Thomas Brooks

 
Recently, skiers and snowboarders in western Wyoming got a big surprise on a mountain trail when a large moose tested out the run with them. The wild encounter was filmed by skier Kenny Rynearson who recorded the moose running down the snowy mountain behind him. His footage captures the moose sprinting down the mountain with powder kicking up behind its heels and, at one point, appearing to chase Rynearson as he continues to film the beast.  
  For more than two minutes on film, the moose cruises downhill as other skiers and snowboarders weave around it to avoid crashing into it. "Unbelievable," someone is heard shouting as the moose runs along a tree line. Rynearson's friend, snowboarder Bill Fohey, called the appearance surprising. “I caught a little bit of air, and the moose was within 10 feet of me” he told Good Morning America. At one point, he told the outlet, the moose started to close in and appeared to bolt for his friend. Eventually, the moose veered off the trail and ran away.
  Most of us aren’t concerned about being run over by a wild moose, but we do need to be concerned about a “lion,” a “snake” and a “dragon.” In the Bible, our greatest enemy, Satan, is compared to all three of these vicious creatures (1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9).
  While people are justifiably frightened by a wild moose, they never give any consideration to a much more violent and evil, enemy – Satan. Good Friday is a reminder that evil has a face. It was Satan who entered into Judas and led him to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3). It was Satan who was the catalyst for the coldblooded murder of the innocent Son of God. Yet, none of the other disciples had any suspicions of Judas. His life is a warning to us of the seduction of sin. Judas spent three years with Jesus. He preached, did miracles, went on mission trips – yet betrays the Son of God. Because of God’s plan, Jesus had to suffer, but Judas didn’t have to be the traitor.
  Satan is the root cause of all of the evil in this world and all of the world’s problems. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t receive news of another example of evil. People often wonder why there is so much evil in our world. The source of all this evil is often overlooked. One we must never forget – there exists in this universe a living source of evil: Satan.
  Jesus recognized him. In fact, Jesus gave us Satan’s job description: He kills; he steals; he lies; he destroys; he tempts, he accuses; he shames; he confuses; he discourages. His name is Lucifer. The title Satan means “adversary.” What do we need to know about his diabolical strategy?
  Satan not only lies but is the father of lies, John 8:44. The first time he appears in the Bible in Genesis 3, the very first words on his lips are questioning God’s truth (“Did God say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?”). The second words he uttered were a complete lie (“You will not die”). John 8:44 says that Satan “has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.” When we deal with Satan, we must remember that we’re dealing with the essence of falsehood and deception.
  Satan is the one who tempts people to sin. It’s what he did unsuccessfully to Jesus in the wilderness. Satan wanted Jesus to abandon God’s plan and will of suffering and obedience (Matthew 4:1-11). It’s what he did successfully to Judas in the last hours of Jesus’s life. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul warns against this for all believers: “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Satan’s agenda is to derail us from devotion to Christ to end in spiritual destruction.
  Satan plucks the word of God out of people’s hearts and chokes faith. Jesus told the parable of the four soils in Mark 4:1-9. In it, the seed of the word of God is sown, and some falls on the path and birds quickly take it away. Jesus explains in verse 15, “Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which was sown in them.” Satan snatches God’s word because he hates faith which the word produces (Romans 10:17). So, he distracts us or gets us busy about the insignificant. Satan wants us to be people of doubt, fear and skepticism of God and His truth.
  Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). He not only says what is false, he hides what is true. He keeps us from seeing the soul cure of the gospel. He lets us see facts, even proofs, but not the life and eternal destiny changing truth. His top priority for unbelievers is to keep them from God’s forgiveness and coming to faith in Christ. The devil is like LeBron James defending a shooter to prevent him from scoring. He tries to prevent people from hearing and responding to the gospel. He wants them to believe that being moral, going to church, getting baptized, obeying the ten commandments, etc. will “hopefully” get them into heaven. He turns the focus away from Jesus’ cross and His sacrificial, sufficient death for all of our sins and deceives us into thinking that it’s not quite enough, that we humans have to add to it with our own efforts. It’s a vile lie.  
  Yet once you become a Christian, the devil doesn’t give up on you. He just changes his strategy. From that point on, he tries to stop you. Paul said he wanted to visit Thessalonica, but the devil stopped him, or he hindered him. That’s a strategy he uses with us as believers. The devil wants to stop you. He and his demons want to stop you from reading your Bible; stop you from praying; stop you from attending worship; stop you from spending time with other believers, stop you from giving to God; stop you from witnessing; stop you from serving God; and stop you from growing in your faith. You get the idea? He wants to stop you from doing anything that God wants you to do.
  And when he stops us, he wins! You can almost hear his vile cackle. But he’s a defeated foe and has no authority over a Christ-follower. Unlike that moose he won’t get bored and wander off. But he’s a toothless lion, an impotent dragon, a beheaded snake. Jesus won the victory 2,000 years ago. Now it’s up to us to live in that victory. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Literal Devil? This is 2021 not 1321!

 “There is no devil in the first two chapters of the Bible and no devil in the last two chapters. Thank God for a book that disposes of the devil.”  Vance Havner 

   During the autumn of 1944 Germany had been beaten back behind its borders. The Nazi war machine was in tatters and the repeated bombing raids of the Allies all but assured that Hitler’s forces would never rise again. Around the perimeter of Germany’s borders, the Allies spread a thin line of forces. One person observed that Allied forces were was so scattered that a man could slip in between its lines without being observed. 

  All across Europe, there was celebration. Parties, dances, speeches all of them rejoicing in Germany’s defeat. The war was effectively over. The only problem was that somebody forgot to tell Hitler and Nazi Germany. 

  Even as his forces were being shattered and driven back Hitler was devising a plan for one last onslaught. Underground factories churned out more weapons, armament and ammunition. More of Germany’s young and old men were conscripted and trained for war. As Europe celebrated, Hitler conspired. His goal was not to drive back the Allies into the sea, as much as it was to divide the British to the North and the Americans to the South, so demoralizing them that they would sue for peace on his terms. Hundreds and thousands of men died because somebody forgot that the enemy still lived and that the war was not completely over.

  We have a much greater and more evil Enemy than a Hitler. His name is Satan. Intellectuals and those in academia are shocked that there are still people who believe in a literal Devil. After all, this is 2021, not 1321.

  If you do not believe in moral absolutes, if you believe that good and evil are relative and on a continuum, then it’s easy to scoff at a literal devil. When evil is relative, it quickly becomes a socially constructed concept, different for each culture and society. It’s held then that different cultures have varied ideas and beliefs about what constitutes “evil.” What is evil to some may well be acceptable and even valuable for others. Morality, good and evil become nothing more than an opinion a world flooded with them.

  To explain away evil or to suggest that it’s only a social construct or a psychological problem is impossible to rationalize away in light of some of the vile evils of just the last century. Was the Holocaust, the genocide of six million Jews who were systematically murdered, nearly two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population a sociological aberration? How could one witness Auschwitz or Treblinka or any other death camp and come to that conclusion? Or conclude it was a psychological failure not a moral one?

  What about Stalin’s Great Purge? How does one rationalize that evil is not real or there is no face of the Devil behind the large-scale repression of the peasantry or the ethnic cleansing by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union? After assessing twenty years of historical research in Eastern European archives, American historian, Timothy D. Snyder concluded that Stalin deliberately killed about 6 million, which rises to 9 million if foreseeable deaths arising from his heinous policies are taken into account.

  Is the Rwandan Genocide of a million souls, the Cambodian Genocide that butchered between 1.5 and 3 million people at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, or Mao’s Great Leap Forward that ultimately exterminated tens of millions, with death estimates ranging even between 15 and 55 million, making the Great Chinese Famine the largest one in human history just social constructs? Just ask the families of the 17 victims of Nikolas Cruz if evil is subjective? Ask them if there is no such thing as right or wrong?

  Evil has a face. Such depths of perversity can’t be explained without a literal Devil. Satan is the great deceiver. One of his greatest deceits is to convince people that he doesn’t really exist. But Satan really does exist, just as surely as God exists. He isn’t some vague, impersonal force; he is a real person—that is, he has a real personality. Just as you and I can think and make decisions and act, so Satan can think and make decisions and act. The difference is that everything he does is evil—without exception—because he is totally opposed to God.

  The Bible teaches that Satan is the number one enemy of God and mankind. Satan comes from a Hebrew word meaning adversary. Devil comes from an equivalent Greek word also meaning adversary or slanderer.

  Throughout Scripture Satan is known as “the ruler of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2); “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4); “one who has the power of death” (Heb. 2:14); “the cosmic powers of this present darkness” (Eph. 6:12); “the great dragon (Rev. 12:9); “the evil one” (Matt. 6:13); “the tempter (1 Thes. 3:5); the accuser of the people of God (Rev. 12:10); and “the father of lies” (John 8:44). But praise God, he is a defeated foe. Wise are the words of Ann Voskamp, “Satan prowls but he’s a lion on a leash.”

  While Satan is a very powerful, spiritual being who hates God and His people, he isn’t equal with God but is engaged in a constant battle against God. We must not take him lightly. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ”

  The most important truth that Christians need to remember is that Satan is a defeated foe. By His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus overcame all the powers of death and evil, and someday His victory will be complete.

  While skeptics deny the reality of Satan, Bible believers cannot. God’s Word warns us to be aware of his plans. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Believers must resist him vigilantly and steadfastly, aware of the reality of his plans to defeat us. When tempted, we must submit ourselves to the Lord, resist him and he will flee (James 4:7).

  A little girl was once asked how she defeats Satan. She said, “When Satan comes knocking at the door of my heart, I send God to answer the door. When Satan sees God, he says, “Oops, I am sorry, I must have the wrong house.” We can’s defeat Satan on our own. We need God’s strength to enable us to conquer him. We must fight Satan, but we must only fight Satan through the power of God proclaimed through His Word. The victory was won 2,000 years ago but we must be vigilant in the fight until Satan’s final defeat. We will win but only in our Savior’s power!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Evil: It isn't just a show

“The devil divides the world between atheism and superstition.”

                                                                                                George Herbert

This Halloween if you want to risk a friend rolling their eyes, tell them that you believe that Satan is real. About 50% of Americans don’t believe in the existence of the devil. The latest surveys indicate that born-again Christians are the most likely to believe in the devil (86%).

  Yet, nothing delights Satan more than when people do not believe in him or take him seriously. Years ago liberal theologian, Rudolf Bultmann dogmatically stated, “it is impossible to use electric light and the wireless, and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time believe in the New Testament world of demons and spirits.”

  Many believe the devil is a fable, just a bit of fiction, some cartoon character dressed in red with a pitchfork and tail. They contend that truly educated and thinking people don’t believe in a literal devil.

  If Satan is only a myth, how do you explain evil? One can’t turn on the evening news without being repeatedly confronted with the reality of evil. Evil is very real! No honest person can deny the problem of evil. Because of that any world-view, religion, or philosophy that acknowledges evil is real, and as a really evil thing, present in our world – is a thousand times more plausible and livable than a religion or world-view or philosophy that denies the reality, or the evilness, of evil. One of the most undeniable facts of our existence, is that evil is real, and evil is evil, too often very evil.

  To attempt to deny that evil exists is to live with your head in the sand and to attempt to deny reality. Yet, trying to deny reality – whether related to evil or any other aspect of reality, doesn’t work. Reality is like gravity – sooner or later, it catches up to you. The longer that you pretend it isn’t there or try to deny it, the harder and more forcefully it crashes in on you.

  For example, some religions tell us that suffering (a type of evil) is just an illusion and you can escape this illusion by achieving a certain frame of mind. This, though, denies the reality of evil. But when the evilness of suffering, sickness or death hits you, you find that any “truth” that tells you that suffering is merely a state of mind or a figment of your imagination and that you should be unbothered by it, is an offensive and unlivable lie.

  While atheism doesn’t fit with the unavoidably moral universe in which we undeniably find ourselves, it’s often accompanying “privation theory,” (that evil is only the lack of good,) doesn’t do justice to the fact that evil is an objective and often horrible real entity. Evil is not merely the “lack of good,” it’s positively vile.

  Even most atheists acknowledge the reality of evil. Yet, if you claim there is evil and injustice in the world, where does one find a moral standard of justice? Doesn’t it seem logical that if there are moral laws, there must also be a moral Law-Giver? For there to be a judgement of evil, it must be based on more than one’s own subjective and benign moral feelings.

  C. S. Lewis’s response to this idea is worth pondering: “My argument [as an atheist] was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust. A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line…Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too…” If there is “evil,” that argument presupposes “good” and some standard of what is good and what is evil. Otherwise neither exists or it is all subjective. The most logical argument is that both exist and God is the moral Law-Giver.

  In his book, The Death of Satan, noted scholar and professor at Columbia University, Dr. Andrew Delbanco, argues that “a gulf has opened up in our culture between the visibility of evil and the intellectual resources for coping with it.” He goes on to argue that many secularists attribute all human cruelty and evil to psychological deprivation or social conditioning, and, in so doing, trivialize the heinous evil that humans are capable of.

  He then recounts the story of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who along with many American elites during the Holocaust gave “no priority to the rescue” of the victims. Later on, after the evidence for the atrocities became too great to disbelieve, the President was given Kiergegaard to read and said that, for the first time, the Christian philosopher gave him, “an understanding of what it is in man that makes it possible…to be so evil.” Dr. Delbanco contends that secular liberals (a group of which he considers himself a member) had lost any concept of radical evil.

  It’s been often said that one of Satan’s greatest tricks is to make people believe that he doesn’t exist — and that’s true. When we deny his existence, we become blinded to the reality of evil, and we fall for his lies about God and about ourselves. Satan is real; the cruelty and vileness of our headlines scream it every day.

  Yet, the most important truth about the devil is this: He is a defeated enemy! By His death on the cross Jesus overcame Satan’s charges against us, and by His resurrection from the grave Jesus conquered Satan’s rule of sin and death. Someday, and I hope soon, Christ’s victory over Satan will be complete. Satan and his evil horde of demons will be banished forever.

  Jesus has won the victory! He died to set us free from Satan’s power. While we need to be wary of Satan, we do not need to fear him – he’s a defeated foe. He may tempt and attack us, but the grace of God in Christ will always make us victorious over him. As 1 John 4:4 promises, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (NLT). We must turn to and rely on the Lord Jesus, who defeated our great Enemy. As we build our lives on Him and His truth, He gives us hope and power, both now and forever.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Will YOU stop lying?

“Honesty may not always be the best policy, as a policy, but dishonesty is always a miserable policy, even when it succeeds.”   Iain Duguid

  You just can’t make this stuff up. In a recent debate between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his opponent, actress Cynthia Nixon, it became very heated as they battled for the Democratic primary nomination in the gubernatorial election. In one more contentious moments Cuomo demanded Nixon stop interrupting him, whereupon she said she would do so if he stopped lying. “Excuse me, can you stop interrupting?” Cuomo exclaimed. To which Nixon retorted, “Can you stop lying?” “Yeah, as soon as you do,” Cuomo responded as laughter erupted from the audience.

  Are you like me? When I hear promises or see accusations about a political opponent, I’m very skeptical. Please don’t get me wrong. There are some elected officials with integrity and a true commitment to honesty. It’s just that they seem to be very rare. Usually, I find them more often on the local level, rather than the national one.

  Much of it, I’m sure, is because I’m an adult child of an addict, but I have very little tolerance for lying. We survivors of an addicted parent were lied to so much in our formative years that it’s left a deep scar.

  Then, our culture has lost any value for honesty or truth. We’ve developed a litany of terms to soften lying: White lies. Fibs. Exaggerations. Ideology trumps truth. Yet, they’re still lies. In a court of law, it’s called perjury. They are falsehoods, fabrications and deceptions.

  As much as try, as much as we detest it – all of us have been guilty of lying. Lying is probably the most frequently committed sin. While we may put “degrees” on lying, it’s still a lie. We rationalize that “a little white lie” to save someone’s feelings isn’t that bad. After all, we’re just trying to make them feel good, right?

  Parents lie to children, thinking little of it, “No, this doesn’t have onions in it.” We lie to cover failure, “I’d have been here on time but the traffic was terrible.” As innocent as a lie may seem, with a holy God, there are no degrees of lying. ALL lies are sinful and violate His standard of truth.

  What many don’t realize is that lying is Satan’s native language. You and I are never more like the devil than when we lie. All that he does is lie. That should cause you to gasp! I know it does me. In John 8:44, Jesus is talking about Satan and states, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

  The first time Satan speaks in the Bible, he lies to Eve. When we lie, we intentionally deceive. There’s usually a conscious decision made each time we do it. Because God is truth, when we lie, we’re in direct opposition to His will. Just as it cost our first parents so much, lying has a high price tag.

  Lying destroys relationships. After you’ve been lied to, you know how difficult it can be to trust that person again. You can’t help but wonder why a friend or family member would treat you so poorly. When you lie, even if you think others will never find out, you’ll create a chasm of hurt in your relationship. If the other person finds out about your lie, as they frequently do, it’s very difficult to regain trust. No one wants a relationship based on lies. Truth and trust are foundational to healthy relationships.

  Lying destroys YOU. It throws you into a vicious cycle that’s extremely difficult to break free of. Once you lie, often you’ll lie again to cover up the first lie. Then, you feel worse. Lies are like weeds. They grow, rarely standing alone. If you don’t kill the first lie, it mutates, reproducing and becoming hard to stop. Lying is addictive. You so habitually lie, you have difficulty knowing what’s actually true as you begin to lie to yourself.

  Liars become trapped in a cycle of lying controlled by fear. They’re anxious of not only being found out as a liar, but also being exposed and having the truth uncovered about themselves. And it always comes with a high price. Lying destroys lives. Relationships crumble. Others refuse to trust you. Ultimately, the one most hurt by lying is you.

  Tragically, because lying is socially acceptable and even encouraged, it’s only through God’s grace, the God of truth, that we can be consistently honest. How can we be people of honesty and integrity?

  Honesty must become a godly discipline, a spiritual habit. Each morning I pray that the Lord will give me wisdom for that day. Wisdom always includes honesty. As God gives me wisdom, I speak (and post) the truth.

  When you lie, deal with it immediately. It’s embarrassing, yet a noxious weed is easier to kill while it’s small. More than once, I’ve had to call up a friend and apologize that I’d exaggerated or not been completely forthright.  Healthy shame helps me in the future be more cautious with my words.

  Be committed to speaking the truth in love. That’s the biblical command and control we find in Ephesians 4:15. Friends sometimes must say the tough things. Some speak the truth, yet wield it like a baseball bat. Others speak with love, yet love void of truth is worthless sentimentality. Like the Lord Jesus, we must commit to speaking both truth and love.

  Please know that honesty will probably cost you. It certainly cost professional golfer, Brian Davis…perhaps up to $2 million. In 2010 at the Verizon Heritage Classic, Davis thought that he’d inadvertently ticked a reed in his backswing, so he called over rules officials to review the video. He had. It cost him the Masters and countless endorsement bonuses. 

  You can’t be a Christian and be a liar (Revelation 21:8). Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” To follow Him, we must live by His standard of truth telling.

  In our culture tolerance is the norm. “Truth” is subjective. It’s purported that there are no absolutes. Being sincere is what really matters.

  That’s all a lie. As the people of the God of absolute truth, we know truth is the norm. There is a right and there is a wrong. There are absolutes. One can be sincere and sincerely wrong. Truth is always truth, always has been and always will be. Truth never changes. As Christ-followers, we must commit to being people of truth, no matter what!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.